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Indian Woman Gave Birth To 11 Kids At Once: True Or False?
Rumor has it that somewhere inIndia, inSuratto be more specific, a supermom gave birth to eleven babies all at once! Yes, you read that right, eleven babies! Could that be true or is it just an urban myth sustained by some really good photoshop work? Well, while the picture shown speaks for itself, ( and we ALL know how pictures can be misleading) anonymous sources indicate that the 11 sweet little bundles of joy photographed above are actually the 11 babies which were born on the unique day of November 11th, 2011 (11/11/11).
Now, there is a little bit of truth in the picture of the eleven kids. Six of them were indeed twins born to the same mother. But the remaining five are just lucky babies who came to this world on a unique day. But wait just a minute! It appears that calls were indeed made to the Guiness Book of World Records to acknowledge the amazing record and they declared that "unofficial sources" are willing to produce even more evidence of the amazing birth of 11 babies to the same mom.
Just so you know, at this point no official news agency has been able to confirm nor deny the information that a woman gave birth to 11 kids in just one pregnancy. So let's take a step back and analyze the situation medically and logically. Is it possible or not for a woman to carry 11 fetuses in her womb, and to actually deliver them all alive.
Related: Babies Born on a Plane
Is it medically possible?
According to medical journals, multiple births can occur either by natural causes, such as the woman who ovulates more than one egg per month, in which case they can all be fertilized, or she produces just one egg, but it divides shortly after fecundation, hence resulting in multiple embryos. Multiple births are nowadays more and more often as a result of infertility treatments such as In Vitro Fertilization. This is the procedure which "implants" more than one fertile egg in a woman's womb, in hopes that at least one will be accepted by the body. Also, the use of fertility drugs can lead to multiple egg ovulation, hence multiple babies.
The same question about how is it possible arises for the twins born months apart
But how many babies can a womb carry?
As many of you are well aware, sextuplets (six babies at one shot) are no longer a rarity these days. In fact, more and more cases of women giving birth to 6 healthy babies are registered. But what would you say about 7 babies at once?
In 1997, the first medical case of surviving healthy septuplets was recorded in the United States. Three girls and four boys were born with sizes raging from 3 lbs and 4 ounces to just barely 15 ounces. Ironically, the smallest baby was the one who had no permanent health issues, but sadly, 2 of the babies have cerebral palsy.
You think 7 isn't amazing enough? How about 8 babies at once?
In 1998 a set of octuplets was born inHouston,Texas. The first of the babies was delivered 15 weeks premature, while the remaining twins were kept inside the womb for two more weeks, and then delivered by a Caesarean section. Unfortunately, the tiniest of them died after just one week, but the remaining 7 are alive, well, and enjoying life.
Beyond 9 babies in the same womb…
So far, all of the reports of multiple babies beyond octuplets do not have happy endings. In 1999 a Malaysian woman gave birth to 9 babies, which were officially the most babies in one birth. Sadly all babies died within 6 hours of living.
The world record for a natural pregnancy is held by a woman in Argentina, who was pregnant with 12 embryos. Unfortunately, none of them were viable.
In 1971, a woman conceived no less than 15 babies, and delivered them all, not at once, with multiple Caesarean sections. Alas, all of the babies also died after birth.
The sad truth is that multiple babies usually involves complicated medical issues in the long run. And even though the babies survive birth, the facts prove that many end up suffering from different causes related to their crowded life in the womb.
Written with love and coolness by Marius on December 4, 2012 in Amazing Stuff
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Reese Witherspoon apologizes, "deeply embarrassed" after arrest
Reese Witherspoon said she is "deeply embarrassed" about what she said to police during the arrest of her and her husband during a traffic stop in Atlanta.
"Do you know my name?" Witherspoon is quoted as asking the state trooper who stopped the couple. She also said, "You're about to find out who I am" and "You're about to be on national news," according to the arrest report.
The Oscar-winning actress released a statement late Sunday apologizing for her behavior to police that began when her husband, Hollywood agent Jim Toth, was arrested early Friday for driving under the influence of alcohol.
"I clearly had one drink too many and I am deeply embarrassed about the things I said," Witherspoon said. "It was definitely a scary situation and I was frightened for my husband, but that is no excuse. I was disrespectful to the officer who was just doing his job. I have nothing but respect for the police and I'm very sorry for my behavior."
Witherspoon said she can't comment further "out of respect" for the pending case, and her publicist, Meredith O'Sullivan Wasson, offered no other details.
The 37-year-old actress was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while Toth was given a field sobriety test. She was released from jail after the arrest and was in New York on Sunday night for the premiere of her new film, "Mud."
News of the arrest broke shortly before Witherspoon arrived on the "Mud" red carpet. She posed for cameras on the red carpet but did not stop to talk to reporters.
"I can't say anything because I don't know," said director Jeff Nichols. "I literally - the first guy on the press line to say something was the first time I heard about it, so I gotta go figure it out."
Matthew McConaughey, who plays the lead role in "Mud" and is represented by Toth, said, "I'm not going to comment on that because it's too fresh."
According to the arrest report, the trooper noticed the car driven by Witherspoon's husband wasn't staying in its lane early Friday morning, so he initiated a traffic stop. He reported that Toth had droopy eyelids and watery, bloodshot eyes, and his breath smelled strongly of alcohol.
Toth told the trooper he'd had a drink, which Witherspoon said was consumed at a restaurant two hours before the traffic stop, the trooper wrote.
Before the field sobriety test began, Witherspoon got out of the car, was told to get back in and obeyed, the report said. After the "Walk the Line" star got out a second time, the trooper said he warned her that she would be arrested if she left the car again.
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- Pictures: Reese Witherspoon
As the test continued, "Mrs. Witherspoon began to hang out the window and say that she did not believe that I was a real police officer. I told Mrs. Witherspoon to sit on her butt and be quiet," Trooper First Class J. Pyland wrote.
Toth, 42, was then placed under arrest. He was charged with driving under the influence and failure to maintain the lane.
At that point, the arrest report says, Witherspoon got out and asked the trooper what was going on. After being told to return to the car, she "stated that she was a 'US Citizen' and that she was allowed to 'stand on American ground,'" the report says.
The trooper then began to arrest Witherspoon. The report says Witherspoon was resistant at first but was calmed down by her husband. Toth and Witherspoon were then taken to jail.
A court hearing was scheduled for Monday at Atlanta Municipal Court, but E! News reports that Witherspoon's hearing has been rescheduled for May 22. Toth's next hearing is set for May 23.
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About the Series: In mid-1962, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was given a partial transcript of an interview with Miles Davis. It covered jazz, of course, but it also included Davis's ruminations on race, politics and culture. Fascinated, Hef sent the writer—future Pulitzer Prize–winning author Alex Haley, an unknown at the time—back to glean even more opinion and insight from Davis. The resulting exchange, published in the September 1962 issue, became the first official Playboy Interview and kicked off a remarkable run of public inquisition that continues today—and that has featured just about every cultural titan of the past half century. To celebrate the interview's 50th anniversary, the editors of Playboy have assembled 13 compilations of the magazine's most (in)famous interviews—from big mouths and wild men to sports gods and literary mavericks. Here is our collection of 12 interviews with the most visionary filmmakers.


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Magnificent footsteps of Verkhoyanskiy Mountain Range. Picture: Alrosa.ru
Yet its wealth goes far beyond the breathtaking mineral resources of this mighty permafrost region, as tourists from around the world, as well as the rest of Russia, are now beginning to discover.
The capital Yakutsk maybe the coldest city in the world, and this awesome republic, the largest in the Russian Federation, may straddle the Arctic Circle, yet there is a warm welcome indeed from the hospitable locals for those who take the trouble to venture off the beaten track and come in search of the myriad travel opportunities offered here.
True, this is one of the remotest corners of the world, yet a number of factors mean that it is now becoming much more accessible, with flight connections both cheaper (especially via Moscow) and from more places (for example a new direct link from Beijing by airline S7 which opened in March 2012) and, astonishingly, an engineering triumph that connects Yakutsk to the Russian capital by rail for the first time, an unfulfilled dream of both the Tsars and Communist planners, also opening in 2013, a little-publicized fact which will suddenly make the Trans-Siberian Railway even more interesting.
Aerial view of river Lena, Yakutia. Picture: Planet Yakutia
Here, as we outline below, you'll find potential vacation experiences like nowhere else in the world, whether you're following in the footsteps of the Woolly Mammoths which once roamed these frozen lands, or making a daring trip to Oymyakon, the coldest inhabited town in the world, or taking a summer cruise on the Lena, Russia's fourth longest river, through one of the world's last great wildernesses, amongst the cleanest and greenest places on Earth.
You'll also impress your friends back home with the sheer adventurism and audacity of your holiday itinerary.
It is the right time to think of travelling here: the government of Yakutia, which administers an area that covers almost one-fifth of the entire Russian Federation, is finally clutching the moose by the antlers and actively improving infrastructure for tourists, believing that the travel industry, as much as its world famous diamonds, are the key to its future. A trip here has never been easier to accomplish.
Don't be unduly deterred, either, by the stereotypes concerning eastern Siberia.
The region - with its 'Road of Bones' - is notorious for the Gulags build by Stalin. As our guide pointed out: "This is our history, and we must never forget it, indeed it is a tour we offer for people to see the remains of the prison camps where so many people lost their lives. There are people who come here to see the place where their relatives lived out their last years. By remembering these dark events, we will prevent them returning."
And the famed cold is not all it seems, or rather to be more precise, it's more bearable than you might imagine.
For those from temperate or hot climates, this may sound absurd, yet Yakutia has very little wind and many days of sunshine through its long winters. Dress correctly, and the cold is manageable and even fun, too, in the deep of winter.
Indeed, locals who often wear fur through the winter, puzzle at how their compatriots in Moscow and St Petersburg cope with grey skies and harsh winds albeit with far less extreme temperatures. "How do they manage? I could never do that," said a Yakutsk babushka sweeping her yard clean in minus 47C.
There is compensation too: Yakutsk - where winter temperatures annually dip to minus 50C and below - enjoys summers as hot as many Mediterranean resorts. The region has an astonishing 108C range in temperature, and in July locals sun themselves on beaches beside the Lena River which in winter is frozen solid enough for them to use as a road and drive cars on.
Come here in summer, and complaining of the cold will be the last thing on your mind. It can even reach 40C, rivalling the heat in Saudi Arabia.
Yakutia - also known here as the Sakha Republic - is a treasure trove, a territory so vast that you could fit the United Kingdom into it 13 times. It is only slightly smaller than India, and if it were an independent country, it would be the eighth largest in the world. Within this vast Kingdom of Cold (and sometimes Hot) there is so much to discover. In these parts, they call it Planet Yakutia, and you can see why.
The following vacation suggestions are made with assistance from the Yakutia Travel Company, which provides excellent help to individuals, groups, and tour agents seeking to explore this mighty region. Many of these suggestions can be combined, making an unforgettable holiday:
Yakutia accounts for around a quarter of the world's natural diamond production and is second only to South Africa.
Treasures of Yakutia, picture: Alrosa.ru
You can see the immense man made hole in the ground in Mirny where diamonds were mined open cast until its closure.
It is so vast - 525 metres deep - that helicopters are banned from flying over it for fear of being sucked in. The process of polishing diamonds can be seen up close.
Visits to gold mines are included, and you can feel yourself to be a prospector, with the chance to take part in gold washing.
You can visit the Treasury of the Republic of Sakha in capital Yakutsk, where glittering samples of diamonds, gold and silver are on display. And visit an abundance jewellery shops where prices compare favourably with what you find back home.
Send a postcard home from the coldest permanently inhabited town in the world, where the record low temperature of -67.7C was recorded in 1933.
Girl shows a bricket of fresh cow milk, frozen minutes after it was left inside the bucket. Picture: Igor Monichev
It's likely to take you three days to reach the outpost of Oymyakon from Yakutsk, and on the way you will pass the famous 'Road of the Bones' and see the extraordinary sacred mountains of Verkhoyansk.
Once there, you may stay with a local family and visit the Pole of Cold, the weather station where the coldest-ever temperature was recorded. They'll present you with a certificate to prove you've been here.
You can fish through an ice hole on the frozen Indigirka River, and see how your catch is ready frozen soon after throwing it on the ice. Warm up again being beaten with birch twigs in a traditional Russian hot steam banya.
There is increasing optimism that the wonders of science will again see the extinct woolly mammoths strut their stuff in their old habitat of Yakutia, brought back from the dead.
Baby mammoth in one of city of Yakutsk museums. Picture: The Siberian Times
The reason in part is the prospect of finding useable DNA in remains preserved in the Yakutian permafrost.
Until these magnificent creatures return, however, the best way to study them is here in north eastern Siberia, and the place to start is the World Mammoth Exhibition in Yakutsk, the only one of its kind.
While many of the most famous mammoth finds have left the region, nowhere is there a better account of the history of the giant animal and its extinction, the cause of which still puzzles experts. Yet tourists are also challenged to discover the mammoth remains for themselves in the permafrost.
Special licensed tours allow visitors to take part in archeological excavations at mammoth cemeteries, digging out bones from the permafrost. They are so prolific that the organisers guarantee success. You will see too how locals use mammoth bones and tusks for making souvenirs on sale at shops in Yakutsk.
One of the most impressive features of Yakutia is the survival of so many ancient and indigenous ethnic cultures, all rich in traditions, languages and beliefs.
The smile of Yakutia - girl in traditional national headwear. Picture: Sakhasmile.ru
Among them the Yakuts, the majority population, the Evenks (hunters and reindeer breeders), Evens (nomadic reindeer breeders) Yukagirs (hunters and fishermen) and the Chukchis (reindeer herders).
You can see how Shamanism - the worship of natural forces and connection to the spirit world - still survives. You may see an Even reindeer breeders' nomadic camp.
A special treat is the Yakut festival of Ysyakh held on the summer solstice on June 21-22, a colourful feast of horse racing, wrestling, singing and dancing, and ceremonies passed down from ancient times charging participants with energy for the next year and symbolising the birth of the Universe and Man. Here too at Russkoe Ustie settlement on the upper reaches of the Indigirka River are descendents of the Old Believer Cossacks who fled from Ivan the Terrible to retain their religion and way of life.
Their language and lifestyle remain remarkably intact since the 17th century.
Due to its vastness, you know when you explore the outback of Yakutia that you can genuinely go where no man has gone before. Summer and winter the possibilities are endless.
Dragon-like top of the hill in Yakutia. Picture: Planet Yakutia
Climbing, hiking, rafting or canoeing on endless mountain rivers, snowmobile safaris, helicopter to places no human has ventured before you, explore the snowscapes on sledges pulled by reindeer or dogs, horse-riding, or camp as far from civilisation as you dare. You can go in organised groups or on your own.
Are you up to the challenge?
As the Yakutsk-based National Tourist Company says of its organised tours: 'Most are planned for strong, young-spirited people not afraid of difficulties while discovering Planet Yakutia.'
This one is for the summer only: in the seven month winter the 4,400 kilometre Lena River is covered in ice one metre thick.
One of popular summer attractions, cruises on Lena river. Picture: Planet Yakutia
There is a choice here, the more modest being to travel from Yakutsk to the Lena Pillars Nature Reserve, where you can marvel at the natural rock sculptures appearing like colonnades, towers, arches, and even mighty cathedrals and castle battlements, soaring up as much as 300 metres from the water's edge.
Here, too, witness ancient rock engravings including ancient writings in Turkic runes. Or for the more ambitious, take the Mikhail Svetlov river cruiser on for an odyssey taking you beyond the Lena's estuary, the largest in the world and a paradise for bird-watching, to the Arctic Ocean, and as far as the port of Tiksi, where in summer you may experience the 'white nights' when the sun never sets and also the Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis .
On the way, after crossing the Polar Circle you'll stop off at traditional Yakut villages like Zhigansk, founded in 1632. In all this unforgettable cruise will take two weeks travelling in relative comfort through some of the remotest territory on Earth.
This is the same trip as above as far as Tiksi but in a tiny Admiral 610 inflatable boat with an outboard motor. Instead of cabins on a comfortable cruiser, you're camping on the river shore or on islands. You fish for your lunch. On day six you cross into the Arctic Circle. This epic 15 day trip ends with a flight back to Yakutsk from Tiksi.
Like eternal sentries standing guard over Yakutia, the awesome magmatic rock pillars in the sacred Kihilekh Mountains are one of the greatest wonders of the region.
The awesome magmatic rock pillars in the sacred Kihilekh Mountains. Picture: Sakha news
Standing up to 35 metres tall, science explains their human like shapes as being created by erosion, but it is hardly surprising that these gargantuan 'stone people' - to translate from Yakut - are seen as something supernatural.
Since ancient times, locals have seen these pillars as having special powers. Shamans see them as the closest link between the Upper World of the Universe and the Middle World of Earth. Those who have lost their natural harmony with nature can climb to these structures, the size of a ten storey building, and regain their equilibrium, it is believed.
There are accounts of the blind seeing again, ailments being cured, the old losing their infirmities. Or are these giants, as some believe, evidence of a highly developed civilisation long ago with connections to space?
Yakutia has long attracted Russian and Western hunters alike, especially to the remote northern areas of pristine taiga. Local tour operators offer hunting for brown bears, moose, chubuku snow rams, reindeer and wolves.
With around one million lakes - one for each resident, countless rivers and streams, and an abundance of fish, Yakutia is perfect for the expert fisherman but also offers exciting opportunities for those less experienced, say on rafting tours where you can catch you dinner.
Yakutia is perfect for the expert fisherman but also offers exciting opportunities for those less experienced. Picture: Yuri Kokovin
Among the most popular fish are Arctic cisco, broad whitefish, maksun, white salmon, sturgeon, carp, burbot, grayling and pollan. The ultimate goal of most fishermen here is the Siberian salmon (Hucho taimen) also known as the tiger fish, which can be caught weighing up to around 30kg.
Arguably the ultimate trip for a twitcher. Organised trips are available from June to mid-August to the gigantic estuary of the Lena River, above the Arctic Circle.
You fly to Yakutsk and then switch to a propeller driven AN-24 for and three and a half hour flight over the permafrost to Tiksi. From here it is a five hour boat transfer to the Lena-Nordenscheld science station, your home for the next five days.
From here you'll be taken by boat to the remote breeding grounds for rare birds, with the possibility to camp overnight.
Yakutia is especially proud of the black crane, Ross' gull and the Siberian white crane.
You may have read Alexander Solzhenitsyn, but now you can see for yourself the scenes of one of the darkest pages of Russian history.
Thousands perished during construction of a highway that now links Yakutsk to Magadan on the Russian Pacific coast, commonly known as the Road of Bones. Picture: Sakha news
These tours take you along the Kolyma road, built on the orders of Stalin by those he sent into Siberian exile.
Untold thousands perished during construction of a highway that now links Yakutsk to Magadan on the Russian Pacific coast. For this reason it is commonly known as the Road of Bones.
It is lined with sinister remains of concentration camps and there is now a roadside wooden cross braided with barbed wire in memory of the millions of lives destroyed by Stalin. Local museums at Khandyga and Tomtor also bear witness to this cruelty.
All of Yakutia is in the permafrost zone, with buildings constructed on stilts to be safe.
Visit two intriguing places in Yakutsk. One is The Institute of Permafrost Study has the world's only underground laboratory deep in the 10,000 year old permafrost. You can admire the ancient vegetation and hear about the famous mammoth Dima.
Don't miss the Permafrost Kingdom, a separate attraction, an ice cave some 150 metres long inside a mountain, where the temperature remains constant at around minus 11C around the year, no matter how hot or cold it is outside.
See the beautiful ice crystals, try the ice slide, examine remarkable ice sculptures, including Venus de Milo, and sip a warming vodka at an ice bar, all to the sounds of Eno.
Your chance to drive a sleigh pulled by reindeer just like Father Christmas. There's no guarantee you'll fly, but you'll never forget such an experience.
There's no guarantee you'll fly, but you'll never forget such an experience. Picture: AskYakutia.com
Beware though: in these parts Yakutia has its own bringer of seasonal happiness to children, by the name of Chyskhan, Lord of the Cold.
Or you can try riding on a sledge pulled by the blue-eyed and enchanting Yakutian Laika dog.


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A Philadelphia abortion doctor already serving a life term in the deaths of three babies is due in federal court to plead to drug charges.
Authorities say Dr. Kermit Gosnell ran a "pill mill" by day and a rogue "abortion mill" by night.
His high-profile murder trial this spring came after federal drug agents raided his West Philadelphia clinic in 2010. They charged him with selling prescriptions for OxyContin and other painkillers to people who lined up at the front desk.
Dr. Gosnell, 72, was convicted on May 13 of murdering three newborn babies born alive during late-term abortion procedures. He was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 overdose death of patient Karnamaya Mongar and for more than 200 abortion law violations. He is serving three consecutive life terms for the crimes.
Defense lawyer Jack McMahon has said Gosnell will plead guilty to the drug charges, given the outcome of the murder case.
Federal prosecutors allege Gosnell started running a pill mill out of his clinic, the Women's Medical Society, in July 2009.
Gosnell would charge patients $20 -- if they were paying cash -- to write prescriptions for narcotics such as oxycodone, alprazolam and cough medicine with codeine, according to the indictment. Customers with insurance would pay $10.
Patients would also pay tips to clinic employees of $10 to $20 per set of prescriptions. The patients would then go to pharmacies and have them filled.
Prosecutors say in February 2010 Gosnell wrote as many as 200 prescriptions in one night for controlled substances. In all, thousands of narcotics prescriptions written by the doctor were filled at pharmacies from 2008 through 2010, according to the indictment.
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The indictment alleges patients did not need to speak with Gosnell to obtain a refill.
Gosnell made more than $200,000 from the alleged acts, according to prosecutors.
It was agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigations who initially alerted Philadelphia authorities to the crimes going on in his clinic.
Agents raided the facility at 3801 Lancaster Avenue on February 10, 2010 to investigate a tip that the doctor was running a pill mill. Once inside, they found unsanitary conditions -- including blood-stained rooms, old equipment and untrained staff.
Aborted fetuses were stored in a basement freezer in plastic food containers and bags next to employee lunches. Severed feet from aborted babies were found preserved in jars around the clinic.
The conditions found inside the clinic led Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams to call the clinic a "house of horrors" in a 2011 grand jury report.
Gosnell was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of seven babies. Prosecutors said he delivered the babies alive during late-term abortions, before snipping their necks with scissors.


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Kate Elliott is the author of the highly successful Crown of Stars series, which I reviewed earlier this year. Crossroads is her new series, a seven-volume series which is divided into two trilogies with a linking book between them. Spirit Gate is the first book of the first trilogy (to be followed by Shadow Gate and Traitor's Gate).
For centuries the land of the Hundred was ruled by the Guardians, powerful beings to dispensed justice, aided by their reeves, effectively a police force riding giant eagles. The Guardians have disappeared and are feared dead, but the reevers remain, overstretched and in increasingly few numbers as chaos and barbarism spreads across the land. Reeve Joss is given the difficult task of restoring order to an area in the south ravaged of bandit attacks, threatening trade between the Hundred and the Sirniakan Empire to the south-west.
Meanwhile, in lands far beyond the Hundred and the Empire, a Qin warrior named Aniji marries a local woman, Mei, and finds himself and his troop of 200 soldiers drawn into danger and adventure, forcing them to flee their lands and journey into the Hundred, where they find the land on the brink of full-scale war.
Spirit Gate is a compelling story set in an interesting and well-realised world. Whilst Crown of Stars was deliberately set in a very rigid society highly reminiscent of medieval Europe, Crossroads is far more original and fantastical, although the two works share some character tropes and ideas. The book opens with a nice piece of misdirection that holds the attention and directs the reader into the story. However, the pacing is mismatched and key characters, most notably Joss, disappear for long stretches. In other places the timeline is a bit confused, with Elliott not being afraid to revisit the events of several chapters past from another POV, although once you get used to it this plot device does start yielding useful information. There is also a rather odd tendency for central characters to engage in frivolous discussions and banter in the middle of mortal danger, which defuses tension from the book, and after a very impressive build-up to a major confrontation at the end of the book, the actual final battle is resolved in perhaps two pages at best, which is very disappointing.
On the plus side, the relationship between the reeves and their eagles is well-defined. Those fearing that the giant eagles were going to be reduced to cuddly sidekicks can rest assured that these animals are depicted as the dangerous creatures they are. The idea that the reeves are policemen and not soldiers is also nicely done and leads to some interesting exploration of the roles of the police and the military in a fantasy world.
Unfortunately, the central threat in the book is left rather vauge and undefined. Is chaos and lawlessness returning in general because the Guardians are gone and some people are taking advantage of it, or is there a much darker master plan at work? Elliott hints at both possibilities but never really gives us enough information to come to a conclusion.
Spirit Gate (***) is an enjoyable and solid fantasy novel with some very nice ideas which doesn't entirely come together satisfyingly. Still, the novel leaves me intrigued to read the sequel, which I suppose is its main objective. The novel is published by Tor in the United States in paperback, and by Orbit in the UK in trade paperback and mass-market paperback. The sequel, Shadow Gate, is released in the UK on 3 April 2008 and in the USA on 15 April 2008.
Saturday 29 December 2007
3 comments:
- Chris, The Book Swede said...
I'm going to have to give this another go sometime :) I have a copy (my own, for once!) but never got through it (I was distracted by The Name of the Wind and never looked back!)
I trust you had a good Xmas and New Year?! :D
The Book Swede - 2 January 2008 at 11:49:00 GMT
- ThRiNiDiR said...
Nice review Wert
- 2 January 2008 at 22:35:00 GMT
Thanks for this thoughtful review. I appreciate it.
Kate Elliott - 4 February 2008 at 22:22:00 GMT
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WALL-E Goes to Work for Cheaper Solar Power
A startup in California has engineered robots to squeeze more juice from solar panels, bringing new efficiencies to a costly process
A shiny silver robot zips along a track at a county jail in Dublin, California, and stops beside a set of solar panels propped up by a giant arm. The robot latches onto the base of the arm and turns it slowly, tilting the face of the panels like flowers to the sun. By angling the solar panels just so, the robot helps the panels catch more rays and produce more energy.
This robot, about the size of a microwave oven, is the brainchild of QBotix, a three-year-old company based in Silicon Valley that unveiled its creation last year. While tilting solar panels to track the sun's movement isn't a new concept, QBotix has come up with a novel approach that makes use of advances in robotics technology made over the past two decades. If the idea proves successful, it could lead to cheaper renewable energy and more efficient use of land for big solar installations.
Such innovations are important if solar electricity is to achieve costs comparable to power generated by fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. And in a time when many solar plants are being built or planned for remote desert regions, where sunlight and broad swaths of undeveloped land are abundant, robotics offer a way to minimize the need for on-site workers to clean, repair and monitor solar panels and tracking equipment.
Construction of a large-scale solar power plant today typically requires armies of workers to dig ditches, pour concrete, remove trees, weld beams, and distribute materials, among other tasks. Once a project gets up and running, plant operators usually employ people to clean the panels using a hose and giant squeegee, or heavy machinery equipped with a mechanical arm for spraying and wiping. Other workers are needed to repair or replace problematic panels and parts, and solar plant operators sometimes hire pilots to fly over their arrays and snap infrared images to spot cracks, short-circuits, and other malfunctions that cause a panel to heat up. Tilting solar panels to track the sun is accomplished, if at all, by means of hundreds of costly motors and tons of steel.
QBotix's design, deployed at five pilot sites in California, Arizona and Japan, sends robots zipping along an elevated monorail constructed alongside rows of solar panels. Each battery-powered bot is programmed to adjust more than one thousand panels in a carefully choreographed sequence, tilting each panel in its assigned flock by 10 degrees every 40 minutes to keep pace with the sun's arc. When its battery charge runs low, the robot maneuvers itself to a charging point atop the monorail, and plugs in.
"You want to produce as much as energy from the solar panels as possible because that energy is your revenue," says Wasiq Bokhari, founder and CEO of QBotix. Utilities are often willing to pay a premium for renewable power delivered during times of high demand, such as the mid-afternoon, in large part because of ambitious renewable energy mandates by state or local governments. These efforts to reduce carbon emissions have fueled a boom in solar plant development, particularly in western states such as California, where utilities must increase the amount of renewable electricity in their supplies to 33 percent by 2020.
In a conventional solar farm, panels in the Northern Hemisphere are permanently positioned to face south (in the Southern Angle, north-facing panels capture more sun). But with this design, known as "fixed-tilt," panels face the sun directly for only a few hours each day.
To squeeze more electricity out of each panel, large solar project developers in recent years have begun adding a system of motors, sensors, and other gear to the steel structure that props up each solar panel. This system, called a tracker, helps to increase energy output by automatically rotating panels to keep them oriented to the sun's rays.
Trackers, however, are expensive. Each tracker has its own motor and gear to rotate a set of several panels. They function best on a level surface, so uneven ground must be graded. This adds cost and can impact the environment in a way that makes it more difficult to secure permits. And only the priciest systems tilt panels on two axes—east-west and north-south—enabling maximum sun exposure during all seasons. (Lower-cost versions tilt panels only east-west.) As a result, conventional tracking systems force project owners to choose between investing extra time and money to generate additional energy, or opting for a less costly system that will generate less revenue.
Robots can offer a happy medium, providing the lower price of a single-axis tracker system with the higher energy output of a premium dual-axis system. "Traditional dual-axis trackers require more motors and steel," says Randy Wu, general manager of development at Trina Solar, a solar panel maker and project developer that plans to offer QBotix's technology as an option in the plants it builds for investors. "QBotix's approach is very different," he adds, because one QBotix robot can do the work of hundreds of dual-axis trackers. The design eliminates the need to install a field of motors and the elevated rail makes grading unnecessary. "They control the environment by putting robotics on a rail," says Geoffrey Kinsey, director of photovoltaic technologies at the Boston-based Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems.
Using robots to tilt panels, Bokhari says, "is like adding a turbo charger to your engine." And they can perform other jobs, too. In the world of solar power plant construction and operation, which still relies largely on manual labor, robotics is an emerging trend. Some companies, such as Alion Energy and Greenbotics, have engineered robots to wipe away the sticky, sun-blocking dust that tends to accumulate on solar panels. Another design from Alion installs solar panels and mounting equipment.
Historically, engineering robots to replace humans has proven a daunting task for some industries because robots only perform a narrow task and can't adapt to a changing environment or get trained for new tasks, says Kinsey. Until recently, that has made robots a more expensive and riskier investment than hiring humans to do jobs such as construction and electrical repairs. It also makes designing robots for outdoor use particularly challenging.
The emergence of more powerful processors, sensors and sophisticated software have helped to shrink the size of industrial robots and make them more mobile and smarter at performing more complex tasks, Kinsey says. He points to Boston-based Rethink Robotics, for example, which last year unveiled a robot capable of learning to perform different tasks on a factory assembly line and reacting to changes such as misplaced parts. Another company, called Kiva Systems (acquired by Amazon in 2012), is supplying fleets of robots to warehouses around the country. Controlled by a central computer, the mobile orange robots buzz around warehouse floors and scan barcodes on the ground to retrieve items off the shelves for shipping. And at Tesla Motors' factory in California, robots on the company's highly automated assembly line can switch between multiple functions. "They are like Edward Scissorhands," Kinsey says.
Designs are improving. QBotix's robots are equipped with GPS, sensors, and wireless communication equipment to record and report their work. And the company unveiled a streamlined version of its robots-on-rails system this summer, showcasing a smaller, lighter, and faster bot capable of managing 340 kilowatts of solar panels every 40 minutes. That's an array large enough to cover the rooftops of 85 typical single-family homes in California. "It's an aerodynamic design for ruggedness and speed—as if you marry a Hummer with a Lamborghini," says Bokhari.
QBotix says its technology could produce up to 15 percent more electricity than a project using single-axis trackers—without additional cost. "QBotix is a leap ahead because it's brought the cost way way down," says Wu. "It's very appealing,"
The company has plans to develop its technology beyond tracker robots. Its team of 15 engineers is working on a new robot that would clean solar panels and detect cracks or other problems with solar panels and equipment, Bokhari says. The idea is to use the same rail system but different robots to do the work, or to set up a system just for the cleaning and inspection robots.
Although using robots to adjust solar panels is a sound proposition, Kinsey says, the day when robots will overtake humans in doing most of the building and running of solar power plants remains far off. Utilities looking to purchase electricity from solar developers want to lock in power prices for 20 years or more, so prospective customers want assurances that new technology from new companies like QBotix and its peers will be reliable over the long term. With each round of the track, the robots are gathering data to make their case.


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Retirement funds: Should you diversify where they're held?
What's inside? Here are the questions answered in today's reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Car trade-in math
2. Putting others at ease
3. Safe savings
4. Refinancing timing question
5. Board games for young ones
6. Retirement account diversity
7. Personal finance intervention
8. Mortgage readjustment
9. Mortgage prepayment versus savings
10. Blog focus
On Black Friday, I attempted exactly one sale – an online one. I failed to be at the site in time for the sale. No major loss.
Instead, I spent almost all the day with family members and friends, which took the "black" out of Black Friday.
Q1: Car trade-in math
My wife and I just moved out of our house after doing a short-sale. We were fortunate to live there long enough to pay off our credit card debt and essentially wipe the slate clean. Now at the age of 26, we are living with my parents with close to no bills and a decent monthly income and trying to save as much as possible to position ourselves for a better future. We own a 2008 Nissan Titan, which we financed for 27,000 out the door. Its our only real debt and I believe we owe less than its value because we pay slightly more every month than the minimum. I've been considering trading it in on a 2011 Hyundai Sonata for a few reasons. Assuming the dealer paid off the Titan in full, I should be able to negotiate a lower monthly payment on the sonata, the insurance is the same, the gas and maintenance would be much less. So all in all, I think by doing so I could save an additional $200 dollars a month to be reinvested. I understand that all the money we've paid into the truck would be "lost" but in the "wiping the slate clean" phase we are in, and with the primary goal to be save as much as possible, do you think this would be a wise decision?
- Beau
From what I can tell from your description, you're wanting to trade in a vehicle that you borrowed $27,000 for (likely giving you payments of about $500 a month, depending on how you purchased it) essentially for the current value of the car in hopes that the amount will be enough to pay it off, giving you a break-even on that car. Then, after that, you want to buy a Sonata, ideally with a loan that gives you payments around $300 a month, "saving" you $200 a month.
I agree with trading in the Titan. $500 a month is pretty steep for a car payment and if you can easily get yourself out of it, that's a good thing.
I'm not in favor of replacing it with a brand new Sonata if you're having to take out yet another car loan to finance it. I would get a late model used sedan for about half as much as you'd pay for a new Sonata, pay that off as fast as possible, then save at a significant rate for its replacement.
Why? If something goes wrong in your life – you lose your job, etc. – you either have a paid-off sedan or, in the worst case, a car with much lower monthly payments than if you "bought" a new one.
Never buy a new car unless you can write a check for it.
Q2: Putting others at ease
I noticed you mentioned the ability to "put others at ease" in a couple of recent posts. I am a caseworker for social assistance in Ontario, Canada and I would like to improve my ability to do just that, to help the clients I work with to feel at ease with me. Are you able to recommend any reading on this subject or do you have any further observations in regards to developing this specific skill?
- Kyla
The best book on this is probably Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. I would suggest that for detailed reading.
The easiest method I've found for putting other people at ease face to face is by figuring out what they most enjoy about their life and asking them about it as a conversation starter. Look for clues. What's on their clothing? Do they have a keychain with a picture of a child on it? Just look them over for things that identify what they're passionate about.
When you have an idea or two, ask about them. Get them talking about something that makes them feel good and they'll begin to feel more at ease with you.
Q3: Safe savings
I'm saving $30,000 for animation school which I won't be attending for about 3 years. In the interim, I'm going to finish my fine arts degree. After that, I'll then use the money saved towards animation tuition. While I'm working on my degree, though, what should I do with the $30,000? What's something that is safer, yet allows my money to grow? It needs to be locked away, essentially, since I'll be on student loans during the three years. I was thinking GIC's, but the return is only 2.5%. Others have said I should put a down payment on a house and then sell it. What would you suggest?
- Tighe
I'm pretty certain that Tighe comes from Canada, where GICs are roughly the equivalent of treasury notes in the United States.
The real question is how stable Tighe wants his savings to be. If he has zero tolerance for losing any of the balance – well, in truth, there is no zero-risk investment but you can get the risk pretty small – a GIC is probably a very good choice, especially at 2.5%. Another option would be to simply stick it into a savings account somewhere, wait, and perhaps move it as interest rates rebound over the next few years.
If you start looking at things like buying a house, you're introducing significant risk into the equation – you're banking on an open market, where the value of the home can go in either direction. If that specific market falls from where it's currently at, then you'll lose money. The risk in buying a house strictly for a return in three years is pretty significant.
Q4: Refinancing timing question
My husband & I are expecting a large investment to pay off in the next year or so. It would pay off half the value of our home. After we make that payment, should we keep paying off the mortgage as it stands (rate of 6.25%) or refinance? Which would prevent us from paying the most interest on a home loan?
- Stephanie
Your best bet is to refinance, considering you can refinance down to 4% or below. Any time you can drop your interest rate more than a percent or so, it's probably worth it to refinance.
Can you refinance now? If it is possible, now is the best time for you to refinance so that you can spend the next six months or so paying 4% interest instead of 6% interest on your home loan.
Of course, you might not be able to, particularly if you're underwater. If that's the case, make your big payment in 2011, then refinance as quickly as you can.
Q5: Board games for young ones
I want to get my 4 yr old twin daughters involved in board games. Could you recommend a couple to get them started. Maybe some that your kids have enjoyed that really get them thinking.
- Justin
I currently have a five year old and a three year old, so my best suggestions for you would be the ones that the two of them request and play together.
The one the two of them most often request is The Kids of Carcassonne, which really helps the younger one with spatial skills. The older one sees a bit of strategy in it and is thus often able to beat his younger sister.
They also have a copy of Travel Blokus that they play against each other quite often. As with the above game, my son sees the game differently than his sister and usually wins.
My older one's favorite game is Hey! That's My Fish!, which is similar in complexity to checkers but with much cuter pieces.
Q6: Retirement account diversity
What are your thoughts about having all your retirement accounts at one financial institution? I have a 403B and Roth IRA at Vanguard. My part time job boss is starting a SEP IRA for me and gave me the option of starting it at Morgan Keegan or any other institution of my choice. my initial reaction is just to stick with Vanguard, but what if they go bankrupt? Would I lose all my accounts? Is it safer to put the accounts in a few different places?
- Jennie
Vanguard's funds (as are those of virtually every investment house) are protected by the SIPC, which ensures that most missing investments are reimbursed. You can read their brochure to find out more.
The SIPC protects your investments up to $500,000 in total value (up to only $100,000 in cash). If you have investments exceeding that, you may want to consider diversifying across various investment houses.
If you're nowhere close to that, I wouldn't worry about it at all. Pick the best investment house and stick with them.
Q7: Personal finance intervention
It recently occurred to me (I finally admit) I am dangerous when it comes to my personal finances. I quite honestly don't know what to do — how to create a budget, how to keep a budget, how to manage monthly expenses… all of it.
I realize I need help… and the best help I can think of is to find someone who can teach me how to manage a budget on a month-to-month basis… kind of like taking piano lessons. I need to take lessons in personal finance. What do you recommend I do as a first step?
- Phillip
The actual "learning" of how to create a budget and use it from month to month is something you can teach yourself. In itself, it's not challenging.
The challenge comes from sticking with it, and that's a matter of psychology and motivation. The best thing to do with regards to this is to find a "money buddy" of sorts – someone who you feel comfortable enough with to openly talk about your finances with, both your successes and failures.
There's no need to pay for someone like this – you probably have such a person in your social network. Do you have a close friend who might also be going through such a period of financial re-evaluation? That's the type of person you'd want as your "money buddy."
Q8: Mortgage readjustment
My husband and I recently bought a single family house. We got a loan for 392k after 20% down payment and the interest rate is about 4.5%. The monthly payment is about 1986.21 and I pay 2000 per month. Apart from our mortgage, we don't have any debt. Both of us work and we don't have any kids right now. We both put in around 10% of our pretax income into our 401k and have a healthy emergency fund to fall back on. I'm currently searching for a new job and recently sold all the stock that I had in ESPP from my company – around 35k. The question is regarding what to do with this money. We have 2 options – one is to put this money into our mortgage. If we put this down and readjust our mortgage($250 charge), the monthly payment goes down by approx. $200. A concern I have with this option is that with the housing market down, should we put down more money into our house?
Other option is to invest this money in a CD or mutual funds. I've checked out the CD rates and they're very low – around 1.5-2% at the most. I'm not very familiar with mutual funds and am hesitant to take a risk in putting such a large amount into the stock market.
Are there any other options I should consider?
- Shanna
One mistake I think you're making is tying the value of your home to your mortgage. Unless you're considering walking away from your mortgage – which you shouldn't even be considering unless you're way underwater – making extra payments on your mortgage shouldn't hinge on the value of your home. It should hinge on interest rates and minimizing the overall amount of money you're handing to the bank in the form of interest.
When you choose to sell your home, you're going to have to deal with the mortgage on it, regardless of whether you sell sooner or later and regardless of whether your home value goes up or down. The more you've paid down your mortage, the more likely it is that you'll have a surplus when you decide to sell.
In your case, I would absolutely pay down the mortgage first. It's essentially a risk-free way to maximize the return on your money.
Q9: Mortgage prepayment versus savings
I have ~$450K in retirement savings and $27K in emergency funds (4 months worth). My mortgage has 28.5 years to run at a 4.1% fixed rate, which I can reduce to 10.5 years if I prepay $1K/mo (which would basically require an either/or choice to add to the emergency fund or to prepay). I am 43 years old, job is fairly stable, no looming risks that I can see. With company match, currently contributing 17% of my pre-tax salary to 401(K) with plan to increase that at the rate of 1% per year. Should I be prepaying?
- Brent
Do you want to retire on the first possible day or do you not mind waiting a few years beyond that for a more stable retirement?
That's really the question here. If you prepay, you'll have your mortgage gone at age 54 – otherwise, it'll be at age 70.
If you're shooting to retire on the first possible day, meaning you're maximizing your retirement savings, you're going to have mortgage payments for the first decade or so of retirement, making it much tighter to make ends meet.
Really, the "best" choice relies on being psychic about the future of the stock market – and no one can really predict it.
If I were you, I'd figure out a retirement age at which I'd like to retire, then figure out how much extra I would have to pay each month on my mortgage to make the mortgage vanish at that date (or just a bit before). Then, I'd use the remainder of that $1,000 per month and put it into retirement.
Q10: Blog focus
Sometimes you write posts or include questions in your reader mailbag posts that have little to do with personal finance. Nevertheless, you maintain the focus of The Simple Dollar very well and people seem to enjoy (and request) these little diversions. I'm guessing a lot of that has to do with regular readers wanting to get to know you better. How do you maintain your blog's focus while allowing for this flexibility?
- Christine
That's because The Simple Dollar isn't really a personal finance blog per se.
Yes, on the surface, I talk about money issues a lot. The real focus of the site, though, is finding a balanced life – and I'm using my own life as something of a laboratory for finding it.
Personal finance is a key part of that balance and it was the first part of it that I really understood. Without having your money in order, it's very difficult to build a better life for yourself.
But it goes beyond merely being all about the dollars. It's about time management and knowing what you want out of life. It's about setting goals and reaching them. It's about relationships with others and the career that you want. These are all tied in with money, of course.
It took me a year or so of doing The Simple Dollar to really start understanding that it wasn't really about money. It was about finding a better life and using myself as a lab to do it, with the implicit understanding that good personal finance is a very key part of it. That's what I've stuck to ever since – and it allows me a pretty broad range of stuff to write about.
I find that it takes a while for every good blog to really figure out what it's about. It's usually not immediate – it takes some time for the idea behind the blog and the person (or people) writing it to really come together. Often, it winds up being something completely unexpected. I didn't think The Simple Dollar would end up being about the things I write about now when I started writing pure frugality posts in late 2006.
Got any questions? Email them to me or leave them in the comments and I'll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag. However, I do receive hundreds of questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.
Add/view comments on this post.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link above.


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Davis Fishing Tackle Established 1945
Welcome to the Davis Tackle website where you will find information about fishing in and around Christchurch as well as a comprehensive range of coarse, sea and game fishing tackle. Whether your preference is barbel fishing on the famous Throop and Royalty fisheries, fly fishing for salmon and sea trout, kayaking in the harbour for everything that swims or throwing a bait or lure from the shore for bass, we can offer advice and suitable tackle. If you cannot see what you want in our on-line shop or want to know more about the available fishing in the area then just give us a call on 01202 485169 or drop us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
If for some reason you are unable to find what you are looking for please contact us here and let us know what it is you need.
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Brewster's Food & Spirits
Home of South West Michigan's only authentic apple wood smoked specialties such as smoked chicken wings, pulled pork, beef brisket, St. Louis style ribs, and the areas only apple wood smoked Reuben sandwich. Check out one of our locations today!
Brewster's restaurant also features a wide variety of traditional American fare food from an 18 oz porterhouse steak down to our famous BBQ grilled chicken fritters. We also carry a wide selection of salads and a new vegetarian menu.
Brewster's restaurant is a great relaxing place to bring the family, the office staff, or a group of friends to catch the latest sports action on one of our numerous TV's.
- Casual Dining
- Dining & Spirits


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How To Draw a Yacht
This first step is going to show you where to position the lining for the yacht or speed boats beginning frame stages. There are a total of five horizontal lines that differ in sizes. The longest line is obviously the tip or bow of the boat. Draw out
As you can see the speed boat or yacht is starting to take form with just a few simple lines. Starting at the top draw a slanted boxed shape. Then work your way done and continue to draw the connecting lines that slant outward until you have a sketch
This is the last and final step where you will actually have to continue drawing. It is just smooth sailing from here on out. Now what you are going to do in this step is draw out the windows that lay across the entire watercraft. When learning how t
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March 4, 2008
Description: This is a tutorial on how to draw one of the most desirable things to own, a yacht. Yachts have always been luxury that most people would like to own once in their lifetime before they die. As for me I could care less for them because I personally cannot stand the sense of feeling like there is no escape if you needed to make a break for it, and be honest how can you make a break for it when your stuck in the middle of nowhere on the open ocean. For those of you who don't know already, yachts are recreational boats that have two different classes, the first being a sailing yacht, and the second is called a powered or motorized yacht. These boats are also known as speed boats as well because they are said to be fast on the water. These watercrafts can vary in size with the smallest being only 32 feet and the largest being over 200 feet which are called super yachts, any yacht that is 200 feet and over fall in the super category. A smaller version of the super yacht is the mega yacht, and boats that are above 100 feet fall into the mega category. An interesting fact that most people don't know is that the first people to use a yacht were the Dutch. The Dutch used yachts or speed boats to chase pirates out of the waters near their borders. In the beginning these speed boats were always made from wood, steel was used in the larger vassals. Now a day's yachts as well as other boats big or small are made mainly out of fiberglass, carbon fiber, steel, and aluminium. If you have money, and you want a yacht with a hull made out of wood, this is something that can easily be accommodated if the price is right. Sailing yachts range in size between 20 feet and as big as over 100 feet, because most yachts are privately owned a majority of them on the water today only range between 25 and 45 feet. No matter what kind of yacht you have whether it is a sailing yacht or a motorized yacht, it is still considered to be a luxury, and with a luxury that sits on the water while you sleep, it is always nice to stay alert and sober before walking around during the midnight hour. This tutorial will show you "how to draw a yacht", step by step. The instructions are easy to follow and read, and this enables you to sketch out your very own luxury watercraft in a matter of minutes.


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Recommended business lawyers in Andover
The following commercial law firms are the featured recommendations for The Good Lawyer Guide in Andover. Solicitors at these firms may be contacted for business advice, commercial property, fraud and business crime, insolvency, licensing, planning and commercial litigation matters. Use the search box at the top of the page for a broader range of solicitors - and to find conveyancing or employment lawyers or family law practices in Hampshire.
Latest client reviews for solicitors in Andover
Sorry, there are no recent reviews of solicitors in Andover Can you share your experience of a local solicitor? Use the search box to find your lawyer and let us know all about them....
Our recommended solicitors in Andover
Conveyancing lawyers, property purchase solicitors-
Richard Parkes
PARKES BROWNERecommended for: Buying a flat or house, Business premises, Renting, Wills in ANDOVER, HAMPSHIRE - Accident claims lawyers, personal injury solicitors
Michelle Duckworth
PARKES BROWNERecommended for: Accident claims, Employment, Insolvency, Suing for businesses in ANDOVER, HAMPSHIRE
Local information/resources
- Andover News, local updates
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- Andover Borough Council
- Hampshire County Council


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"The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne." ― Geoffrey Chaucer
In Toronto, we're spoiled when it comes to continuing education in journalism, publishing, communications and creative writing. Several universities, colleges and professional associations offer courses ranging in length from a few hours to a few months, on everything from grammar basics to launching a magazine.
I'm a continuing ed junkie. In my 20s, I was always enrolled in courses related to writing, editing or public relations at Ryerson, George Brown or the University of Toronto. Some were more useful than others, but I always came away with new skills and a deeper appreciation of the subject.
Whether you've recently or not-so-recently finished your education, you might be wondering if taking more courses is worth the time, expense and effort. I think the key is doing your research — finding a learning opportunity that fits your personal goals and your schedule, whether it's a one-day boot camp or 14-week copy editing course. Be realistic, pick something you're really interested in, and think of it as an investment in yourself.
You don't have to wait for a school semester to start. Boost your industry knowledge any time with online offerings from Poynter's News University, Magazines Canada and MediaBistro. Or dive back into the world of academia — you needn't limit your learning to topics directly related to your day job. One of the most exciting new players is Coursera, a "social entrepreneurship company" that has partnered with 33 universities, including Ivy League schools and a few Canadian institutions, to offer free online courses on everything from game theory to social network analysis. Other sources of free university-level lessons: YouTube EDU, iTunes U and institutional sites like Open Yale and edX (which includes MIT, Harvard and Berkeley).
Taking courses is as much about meeting people as it is about gaining knowledge. Your classmates and instructors become part of your extended network—and that's especially helpful if you're just starting out and don't have many contacts. In the small world of magazines, you're likely to run into people again, maybe years later. You might also end up teaching a course yourself—never say never.
Can you share any free online learning opportunities?
Jaclyn says: | |


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Indulge your Candy Crush addiction
Turns out playing video games reduces the vividness and frequency of cravings compared with waiting it out, according to new research in the journal Appetite. (Study participants played Tetris.) Why? Because playing games distracts your laser focus on about that pint of ooey-gooey chocolate ice cream sitting in your freezer.
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Keep good food close
Laziness plays a bigger role in your food choicesboth good and badthan you might think, suggests another study published in Appetite. Undergraduates at Saint Bonaventure University in Upstate New York were separated into three groups: one that sat with apple slices within reach and buttered popcorn roughly six feet away, one with the popcorn within reach and the apple slices six feet away, and one with both snacks within reach. Even though the participants told the researchers they preferred to eat the popcorn over the apples, they ate whatever was nearest to them.
Watch the video: How to Peel and Core an Apple
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Sleep in
There's no better way to indulge in your lazy tendencies than to get more sleep. Sleeping fewer than than five hours a night could send the scale soaring 30% higher than if you got seven hours or more, suggests a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
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Order your drinks unsweetened
"Order a plain latte instead of flavored, plain iced tea, plain coffee," says Beth Saltz, RD. Opting for the plain latte over the flavored will save you 40 calories per 16-ounce serving and forgoing the half and half in your coffee will save you up to 20 calories and 2 grams of fat per one-tablespoon serving of the creamy stuff.
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Eat sitting down
"You would be amazed how many calories you consume without paying attention, especially from tray-passed foods and buffets at parties or get-togethers," Saltz says. Mindless eating is the enemy of weight loss. Studies out of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab show we unconsciously eat more out of bigger containers, and in social situations. "If you're sitting down at a table, though, you will be more mindful of what you are eating and keep extra calories from sneaking in from tray-passed snacks and buffet food," she says. To reduce temptation even more, sit further away from the food.
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Save the salad for last
Salad comes with your meal; just eat it at the end of your meal. "Rather than taking seconds of the main course, a salad can be a very filling, low-calorie option," says Debra Wein, RD, president of Wellness Workdays, a leading provider of worksite wellness programs. "By eating it last, it will give your brain a chance to catch up with your stomach so you realize that you aren't as hungry as when you started your meal. Just make sure you skip the creamy dressings."
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A low-stress lifestyle may keep belly fat away, suggests research published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology. For a year, researchers from the University of California at San Francisco followed 61 healthy women; 33 were chronically stressed while the other 28 were not. All were asked to keep a record of their consumption of high sugar, high fat foods. Researchers found that eating these unhealthy foods frequently predicted metabolic risk, including a larger waistline, more belly fat, higher oxidative damage, and more insulin resistancebut only in the high-stress group. Women in the low-stress group who also ate a lot of high fat, high sugar foods did not experience the same negative metabolic effects.
Watch the video: Yoga Poses for Less Stress and Better Sleep
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Forget about diet soda
Research out of the University of Texas at Austin found that people who drank diet soda tended to have larger waists. After following 474 people for about a decade, they found that those who drank diet soda had a 70% greater increase in waist circumferences compared with non-drinkers. What's more: people who consumed two or more diet sodas a day saw a 500% greater increase. (Here are 10 more reasons you should give up diet soda.)
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Make water your go-to drink
Sure, we've all been told we should make sure to drink enough water, but it bears repeatingresearch shows it can be an effective weight-loss aid. In one Virginia Tech study, overweight people who followed a low-calorie diet and drank two eight-ounce glasses of water before every meal lost an average of 15.5 pounds over three months. People who reduced their calorie intake but didn't down the H20 dropped just 11 pounds.
Watch the video:
Stay Hydrated
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Grab Greek yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast
Both are easy, no-cook breakfasts that give your body a big dose of calcium and nearly 20 grams of protein, says registered dietician Tiffani Buchus, who is the co-author of No Excuses! 50 Healthy Ways to ROCK Breakfast! In a recent study, women who consumed about 30 grams of protein at breakfast reported feeling fuller for longer and consuming fewer calories at lunch than those who ate just three grams of protein.
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Opt for raw
When you're hungry, grabbing a piece of fruit is easyno cooking is required. "Fruits are naturally sweet, high in fiber, and full of hydration," says Wein. "If you fill up on fruits, you'll be less likely to want to eat other foods." Raw vegetables can have the same effect.
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Don't drown your food
Bypassing dips and dressings can help shave off calories. "While a few dabs won't break you, a little here and a little there will jeopardize your weight loss efforts," says Buchus. Most creamy dips can rack up the calorie count to over 100 calories and 10 to 15 grams fat for only four tablespoons.
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Limit your frozen yogurt
Are you a fro-yo fiend? Keep your self-serve in check by employing a dollar limit. "Most yogurt is 20 to 30 calories per ounce, so calories add up quickly even before toppings," Saltz says. "If you stay under a certain dollar limitI suggest $3 you will be sure to also limit your calories. Just weigh your yogurt on the scale at the register and they can easily tell you what amount you've hit. The right amount of yogurt is about a fist-sized portion, and the right amount of topping is thumb-sized."
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Choose alcohol or dessert, not both
If you start dinner with a glass or two of wine and end it with dessert, you've bookended your meal with an extra 500 to 1,000 calories, Saltz says. To lose weight, you have got to cut calories. So unless you plan to order a plain salad with balsamic for your entree, she suggests cutting elsewhere to avoid a 2,000-calorie meal. "If alcohol is your choiceI usually pick wine over dessertorder a decaf coffee to finish your meal," she says. "If you want to splurge on dessert, then keep your liquid calories zero during the meal."
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Feed your salsa or curry obsession
By embracing spicy food, you could be tricking your body into eating less, suggests a study in the June 2014 issue of Appetite. In the small Danish study, adding one gram of red chili pepper to each meal kept participants more satiated and full whether they consumed 100% or only 75% of their daily calories and prevented them from overeating after dinner. You can put this to work for you very easily since one gram is approximately one-fourth of a teaspoon.
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Happy Sunday all!! I have partnered with my friends at Kodiak Cakes (the best flapjacks around!) to thank you all for being so patient during my busy work schedule and waiting for me to bring back my daily posts. As some of you know, in our house, we never eat pancakes ~ only Flapjack's and Waffles as The Husband does not like pancakes. It's ok, I NEVER tell him we are having pancakes of any kind and he really does think there are separate mixes flap jacks, pancakes and waffles lol.
As much as I love being able to whip up flapjacks from scratch, on weekday mornings, it's nice to have a quick option that let's me get a filling, delicious and healthy breakfast on the table in under 15 minutes ~ Enter Kodiak Cakes!
My all time favorite mix to date is the Whole Wheat, Oat & Honey ~ slightly sweet, slightly nutty and The Husband can never tell it's made with whole wheat and oats.
I LOVE the ingredient list and that they use "oat flour" which I use in every pancake I make.
2 cups of mix = 6 flapjacks (1/3 cup of mix each), 2 points+ each ~ DEAL!
The newest mix that I cannot wait to try is the Buttermilk & Honey.
Same real ingredients that you will find with the first mix…..
With the same fantastic stats! 2 points+per flapjack totally allows you to add all your favorite toppers.
Whether you are serving them up "classic style" topped with pure maple syrup, whipped butter or fruit & Greek yogurt……
Or getting a little creative and making "Healthy "Pigs in a Blanket" ~ I have no doubt you will love Kodiak Cakes as much as we do.
This breakfast will take you 5-10 minutes tops to make and it is completely satisfying in every way….from the doughy, Kodiak Flap Jacks to the sweet and salty maple chicken apple sausage to the drizzle of pure maple syrup..
Are you all ready to get to find your Inner Bear, get your Kodiak Cakes on and win some flapjacks of your own to try?!
1) Simply leave your FIRST comment telling me one creative topping you put on your flapjacks or one creative way you eat your flapjacks.
2) TWEET and/or Facebook about this giveaway, " Want to win your own box of @KodiakCakes Enter this #Giveaway hosted by @danicasdaily http://danicasdaily.com/?p=44503 #WeightWatchers". Be sure to leave your SECOND comment to let me know you did.
3) If you have a blog, LINK back to this contest and leave a THIRD comment letting me know you did.
If you do not have a blog, just leave a comment below telling me someone you told about this giveaway.
The Fine Print: Thanks to Kodiak Cakes.for letting me share in the fun by giving away 4 free Kodiak Cake Mixes like the two I received to four lucky readers.
The Winner will be randomly drawn and announced on Thursday, June 27, 2013.
Last week was hopefully the grand finale of my work deadlines that ended up in Vegas where we spent to weekend having fun. The Husband has a chance to geek out with all his poker chip collecting buddies and we usually try to find new things to do on Annual Las Vegas Trip. This year we ended up repeating a few of our favorite things to do so I am skipping my daily recaps and sharing all my recaps to date.
If you are heading to Las Vegas……here are all the things we like to do in Sin City!
- 2012 Las Vegas Trip ~ When In Las Vegas, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4
- 2011 Las Vegas Trip ~What Happens In Vegas Day 1 & Days 2/3
- 2010 Las Vegas Trip ~ In July 2010, In October 2010
- 2009 Las Vegas Trip ~ Viva Las Vegas ~ Day 1 & Day 2
And of course, my list of all the Fun and Free things to do in Las Vegas
Ok….I can't resist ~ My favorite two pictures on this year's Las Vegas trip ~ waking up every morning and watching the sun rise from our room while we sipped coffee.
Good luck all! We are getting settled back into life today and tomorrow starts anew with an early morning treadmill wake up call.


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One thing I am sure of though is that the Lebanese rich gastronomic traditions have a lot to offer for gourmets like me and there is no doubt about the reasons why this place's cuisine is venerated all around the world. It's deliciousness is incomparable. Absolutely no myth here. If you already know the century-old Lebanese cuisine, then you know that I'm not lying and if you have never tasted it, well I can only assure you that you must immediately remedy this situation as you most likely have missed out on a fabulous experience.
Every time I plan to prepare a yummy dish for the weekend, I invariably pick up one of my Middle Eastern cookooks and leaf through it's page while drooling. For me, that kind of is synonymous of culinary enlightment and extreme epicurian pleasure. I am constantly amazed by the recipes hailing from that region of the globe. But there is no mystery to why I am attracted to such wonderful exotic eats. I am crazy about spices, lamb, poultry, pilafs, mezze, dips, sticky and nutty desserts, flat breads and bulghur. Such goodies have a drug-like effect on me.
Being a really well-organized foodie who behaves like a squirrel (a stock freak) I always make sure that my cupboards and freezer are garnished with a vast array of ingredients (tons of spices, grains, legumes, pastes, sauces, herbs, cans, meat, etc..). In that way, it leaves me the opportnity to cook or bake more or less anything I want without having to run out to the supermarket.
As my pantry is a treasure trove just like Ali-Baba's cave and it hides many gems, I had no problem putting together one of Lebanon's national dishes, a "Kibbeh" that I had spotted in Claudia Roden's excellent book "Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon". Thanks to my tendency to accumulate goods I had everything at hand. The ground lamb meat was in the freezer, a bag of pine nuts that needed to get used was sitting on my dried fruit shelf, a bottle of pomegranate molasses was carefully kept in the sauce section of the counter next to the oven, a packet of bulghur was stocked in my IKEA cart and both the cinnamon as well as the allspice were waiting for me in the spice cabinet. Perfect!
The name "Kibbeh" derives from the Arabic word "kubbah" meaning "ball". This delicacy is one of the Levantine cuisine's most widespread dishes and can be found in Syria, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, the Arabian Penninsula, Armenia, Israel, Latin America (Brazil,Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras or Mexico - imported by the Syrian & Lebanese dispora) and Cyprus. This course is made with bulghur (sometimes even with rice), meat (also fish, pumpkin or potatoes) and spices. There are different varieties (vegetarian, balls, oval-shaped, patties that are either baked, cooked in broth, yoghurt, bitter orange juice or fried and there's even one version that is very similar to tartare and consists of raw meat), but the most common of them is the torpedo-shaped croquettes that are stuffed with minced beef or lamb and are deep-fried.
Making "Baked Kibbeh" for the first time was no big deal for me, thanks to my food processor and my years of experimenting with cooking. The preparation required no particular skill and was not messy, long nor complex. It was quite straightforward and idiotproof, but what came out of the oven was far from being plain or simple.
With it's complex and refined flavors, this Middle-Eastern meatloaf is extremely palatable. The meat base is soft, moist and meatilicious, and is crowned a sweet, sour, savory onion and pinenut topping. This "Baked Kibbeh" can be served hot or at room temperature as a mezze (cut in small pieces) or main dish, and makes a grandiose potluck or picnic dish that will be wolfed by adults and kids alike. With the leftovers you can even create a scrummy sandwich (use pita, fattoush breads or baguette Parisienne and add the spread of your choice - yoghurt, "Tarrator Sauce", "Baba Ganoush" or "Hummus").
~ Kibbeh Saniyeh ~
Recipe adapted from "Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon" by Claudia Roden.
Serves 4.
Ingredients For The "Baked Kibbeh" Base:
2/3 Cup (160g) Fine-ground bulgur
1 Medium white onion, cut into quarters
1 Pound (500g) Lean ground lamb (lean & boneless cubed leg of lamb)
1 Tsp Sea salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 1/2 Tsp Ground cinnamon
1+1 Tbs Vegetable oil (to grease the pan and the top of the kibbeh)
Ingredients For The "Onion & Pine Nut Topping":
1 Pound (500g) White onions, sliced (half-moon)
3 Tbs Extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 Cup (50g) Pine nuts
Sea salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 Tsp Ground cinnamon
1/3 Tsp Ground allspice
3 Tbs Pomegranate molasses
Method For The "Baked Kibbeh" Base:
1. Cover the bulgur with water and let rest 10 minutes. Drain well.
2. In a food processor, purée the onion, then add the meat, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Blend to a fine paste.
3. Add the drained bulgur and blend again in order to get a smooth, homogenous and soft paste.
4. Preheat the oven to 190° C (375° F). Oil a 26cm (10inch) diameter tart pan/dish and then press the paste into the bottom of the pan/dish with your hands.
5. Flatten and smooth the top. Rub with 1 tablespoons oil.
6. With a pointed knife, cut the kibbeh into 6 wedges through the center, and run the knife around the edges of the dish to release them.
7. Bake the kibbeh in the preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes, until browned.
Method For The "Topping":
8. Meanwhile, fry the onions in the olive oil until they are golden brown, stirring often.
9. Add the pine nuts. Stir-fry until lightly golden.
10. Salt and pepper to taste, then add the cinnamon, allspice and the pomegranate molasses.
11. Continue cooking and stirring for about 1 minute.
12. Spread the onion mixture over the top of the kibbeh and serve.
You can replace the pinenuts by 2/3 cup (90g) shelled walnuts, broken into pieces.
If you wish, you can also add 2 tablespoons raisins that have been previously soaked in water for 15 minutes and drained (in case you are using the raisins, ommit the pomegranate molasses) or add 1 tablespoon sumac to the onion topping (then ommit the pomegranate molasses).
Serving suggestions:
Serve hot or at room temperature, alone or with a salad, a dollop thick yoghurt, "Tarrator Sauce", "Baba Ganoush" or "Hummus".
Recette tirée et adaptée du livre "Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon" de Claudia Roden.
Pour 4 personnes.
Ingrédients Pour le "Kibbeh":
160g de Boulghour fin
1 Onion blanc (moyen), coupé en quatre
500g de Viande d'agneau hachée maigre (ou du gigot d'agneau désossé et coupé en cubes)
1 CC de Sel de mer
Poivre noir moulu, selon goût
1 1/2 CC de Cannelle en poudre
1+1 Cs d'Huile végétale
Ingrédients Pour La "Garniture Aux Oingons":
500g d'Oignons blancs, coupés en demi-lune
3 CS d'Huile d'olive extra vierge
50g de Pignons de pin
Sel de mer, selon goût
Poivre noir moulu, selon goût
1/2 CC de Cannelle en poudre
1/3 de Tout-épice en poudre
3 CS de Mélasse de grenade
Méthode Pour le "Kibbeh":
1. Recouvrir le boulghour avec de l'eau et mettre de côté pendant 10 minutes. Bien égoutter.
2. Dans un mixer, réduire l'oignon en purrée, puis ajouter la viande, le sel, le poivre et la cannelle. Mixer afin d'obtenir une sorte de pâte.
3. Ajouter le boulghour égoutté et mixer à nouveau afin d'obtenir une pâte collante, homogène et fine.
4. Préchauffer le four à 190° C. Huiler un moule à tarte de 26cm et presser (avec les mains) la pâte dans le moule.
5. Bien applatir et lisser le dessus. Peindre avec 1 CS d'huile.
6. A l'aide d'un couteau pointu, couper le kibbeh en 6 tranches égales (comme pour une tarte) et passer le couteau dans les bords afin de les libérer.
7. Cuire le kibbeh dans le four préchauffé pendant 30-40 minutes, jusqu'à ce qu'il soir doré.
Méthode Pour La "Garniture Aux Oingons":
8. Pendant ce temps, faire frire les oignons dans l'huile d'olive tout en remuant de temps à autre,
9. Ajouter les pignons de pin. Continuer à cuire jusqu'à ce que les pignons soient dorés.
10. Saler et poivrer, puis ajouter la cannelle, le tout-épice et la mélasse.
11. Cuire encore penadant 1 minute tout en remuant.
12. Etaler la garniture sur le dessus du kibbeh et servir.
Au lieu d'utiliser des pignons de pins, vous pouvez préparer ce plat avec 90g de noix , grossièrement concassées.
La garniture peut aussi être faite avec 2 CS de raisins secs qui ont été trempés pendant 15 minutes et égouttés avant utilisation (dans ce cas, omettez la mélasse) ou bien il vous est aussi possible d'ajouter 1 CS de sumac (dans ce cas aussi, omettez aussi la mélasse).
Idées de présentation:
Servir chaud ou à température ambiante et accompagner avec une salade ou du yaourt à la grecque, du "Baba Ganoush" ou du "Hummus"..


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Ambassador Skweyiya accepted the remains for South Africa
The remains of an African woman who was paraded around Europe as a freak and scientific curiosity have been handed back to the South African Government in a symbolic gesture of reconciliation by France.
The skeleton and bottled organs of Saarti Baartman - who was known as the "Hottentot Venus" for her pronounced buttocks and genitals - were handed over to the South African ambassador in a ceremony in Paris on Friday, ending a long battle for her return.
"After suffering so much offence and humiliation, Saarti Baartman will have her dignity restored - she will find justice and peace," said French Research Minister Roger-Gerard Schwartzenberg.
Her treatment has become a symbol of European colonial attitudes towards Africa and her return has been an important issue in post-apartheid South Africa.
Six women sang a hymn as two crates containing a plaster cast of Baartman's body and her remains were opened, and then covered with a flag and a leopard skin cloth.
They will be transported to South Africa later this week.
Baartman was born in 1789 into the Khoisan tribe of hunter-gatherers who lived in the southernmost tip of Africa and were also known as Hottentots, which is now considered a derogatory and offensive term.
In 1810 a British ship's doctor, William Dunlop, noticed what seemed to him, her unusual shape.
He took her to London, hoping there was money to be made by exhibiting her and showed her off to a paying audience as a freak of nature.
She was then sold to a French entrepreneur who took her to Paris where she seems to have fallen into alcoholism and prostitution and was dead by 1816.
Baartman was then dissected as a scientific specimen.
Parts of her were preserved and put on display along with her skeleton and could be seen in a Paris museum, right up until the mid 1970s.
Righting a wrong
After the ending of apartheid, South Africa began to campaign for the return of her remains.
In 1994 former French President Francois Mitterrand made a personal promise on the matter to Nelson Mandela, but it has taken several years for the necessary legislation to be passed.
A special act of parliament, passed in February, opened the way for the handover to South Africa.
The French were concerned that to return Baartman's remains might lead to claims from other countries for return of artefacts held in French museums.
For South Africa, the case illustrates the racist scientific thinking common in 19th Century Europe and there are plans to give Baartman a national funeral and partially put right a historical wrong.


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The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Paranormal
By David Borgenicht
and Ben Winters
This product has not yet been released. It will be available after Wednesday April 13, 2011.
On hit TV shows, in best-selling books, blockbuster films, video games, and comics, pop culture has been overrun by hordes of vampires, zombies, werewolves, ghosts, wizards, and other paranormal creatures. Luckily, the authors of the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series are back with all-new, expert advice designed to help readers fend off the furry, fanged, freaky, and frightful. This classic handbook format is packed with new illustrated instructions for crucial scenarios ranging from the domestic (How to Host a Cocktail Party When Your House is Haunted) to the scary (How to Survive a Zombie Attack in the First Day, First Week, and Long Term) to the practical (How to Break Up with a Vampire).
David Borgenicht is the creator and co-author of the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series and the publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. He lives in Philadelphia.
Ben Winters is the author of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and co-author of several titles in the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.


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Some Barnes & Noble customers in Manhattan, West Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area will be able to get same-day delivery of their purchases through Google Shopping Express, according to media reports that surfaced Thursday.
Barnes & Noble CEO Michael Huseby described the teamup as a test and a way to increase book sales both online and from its brick-and-mortar stores.
B&N is floundering, having closed 63 stores in the past five years, and "could use any additional sales they could garner," Scott Strawn, a program director at IDC, told the E-Commerce Times.
"But I don't think this will save them," Strawn added. "If they're looking to this to fend off Amazon, they're going to be very surprised."
Barnes & Noble did not respond to our request to comment for this story.
How the Partnership Will Work
B&N stores participating in the program reportedly include the Union Square store in Manhattan; the Marina del Rey store near Los Angeles; and a store on Stevens Creek Boulevard in San Jose. They will have someone on site to handle online orders for items including books, toys, games and magazines.
Google will collate the orders and hand over the items to a courier for delivery.
B&N will not process Google Shopping orders on its website; the idea is for the bookseller to pick up incremental sales from Google Shopping customers.
Google spokesperson Anaik Weid provided a canned statement for the media about Google being "excited" that B&N is "joining our existing retail partners like Target, Costco and Staples," in response to a request for comment by the E-Commerce Times.
And there's the rub: B&N is just another partner for Google.
"This is actually B&N being added to the really long list of companies that are partnering with Google to a certain degree to allow customers to buy certain items and have them delivered the same day," IDC's Strawn remarked.
What's in It for Google?
It's generally acknowledged that Google is trying to get a piece of the online marketing action, which is dominated by Amazon and other giants such as eBay.
"Amazon is facilitating the sale of goods and services online, and that's what Google does," Strawn said.
From Google's perspective, the partnerships with B&N and other companies "may be the beginning of a service to match Amazon more broadly," suggested Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
It's All About the Search
However, the real threat to Google is Amazon's introduction of its Firefly visual search feature, available on the Fire Phone the company launched in June, Enderle said.
Firefly's product recognition function lets users identify and get price checks on more than 70 million items and order them directly from Amazon. It can scan barcodes. It lets users scan and tag songs, films and TV programs. It also lets users identify text and phone numbers printed on paper.
"Effectively, [Firefly] is a technology that bypasses search, rendering it invisible," Enderle told the E-Commerce Times. "At some point, it could eliminate a significant amount from Google Search if it spreads more broadly."
That could cut sharply into Google's online advertising revenue, which already is threatened by Facebook.
The Possible Effect of the Partnership
Google Shopping Express "is not operating at a large enough scale to have any meaningful impact on B&N, but it's certainly Google's ambition to have the service operating on a larger scale, at which point it will have a significant impact on all Google's partners," IDC's Strawn said.
On the other hand, "part of what keeps B&N around is that people like going into their stores to browse, read and socialize," Enderle pointed out.
"Once you get people to instead focus on fast delivery, where e-books have a huge advantage, you are effectively blowing away your major advantage and fighting Amazon's fight," Enderle continued. "This might turn out to be a colossal mistake for B&N."


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✔ Compatible with Xbox 360
🚫 Not Compatible with Xbox One
TransWorld Surf lets you pull off all the massive airs and blazing tailslides of professional surfers, including Taj Burrow, Andy Irons, and Shane Dorian. This is your chance to drop into more than 20 of the world's most challenging breaks in locations such as Todos Santos, Hossegor, and Tavarua. Conquer the waves with a friend, hitch a ride with the Reef Girls, watch out for the hungry sharks, and remember to save your best moves for photographers who just may put you on the in-game cover of TransWorld Surf.
This product is included in the following collections:


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Object Oriented Programming Oversold! - OOP Criticism |
Table Oriented Programming - an alternative or enhancement to OOP |
SQL Criticism |
Stupid Web Patents - why are people tolerating this nonsense? |
Prisoner of Hype - why I.T. fad cycles and snake oil dominate decision making |
IT Labor Shortage Fraud - the alleged technical labor shortage is actually a political battle over labor costs and training costs. |
XBase Appreciation - long live good ideas! |
"L" Scripting Language Proposal
Scripting Language Options - a list of decisions to make when building the next programming language. |
XML GUI Protocol - "Server Controlled GUI" (SCGUI) - A language-independent GUI protocol. Latency-friendly, easy-to-learn replacement for X-Windows. HTML forms have reached their end. |
A FoxPro Music Sequencer - a hobby project |
IT Humor and comics |
Intelligent Design Compromise - ID may be weak science, but can still be science. |